


A Princess's humiliation

by Carola_dl



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fairy Tale AU (sort of), Inspired by The Swan Princess song "This Is My Idea", Jane is the princess of Vanaheim, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 23:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16208351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carola_dl/pseuds/Carola_dl
Summary: In the same way a girl never forgets her first infatuation, a girl never forgets her first humiliation. It matters little that he's a prince, it matters little that she's the lost and found princess of Vanaheim.





	A Princess's humiliation

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This one short is a Fairy Tale AU, although there isn't much of a tale here, and even even less fairies :) I just wanted to play a little with them as children with their infatuations and their insecurities. It was really fun to write, so I hope you had fun reading it, as well.
> 
> Somewhat inspired by the song "This Is My Idea" from the animated movie The Swan Pricess. Link to the movie scene:  
> http://www.cornel1801.com/animated/Swan-Princess-1994/This-Is-My-Idea/videosong.html

**A PRINCESS’ HUMILLIATION**

 

In the same way a girl never forgets her first infatuation, a girl never forgets her first humiliation.

It mattered little that the object of her childish love and her resentment was the same irritating boy, and that he was a prince and the son of the most important man in the nine realms. She was no ordinary girl either – and again, that mattered little – she was the lost and found princess of the old realm of Vanaheim, and before she turned five, her life had already resembled one of those ridiculous Midgarian tales.

When she was only a baby, she had been kidnapped by one of her parents’ enemies, who had given her a potion that had snatched away any trace of magic her little body possessed. Something had gone wrong for the villain, who had lost her in a snowy forest in Midgard and she would’ve perished there if it hadn’t been for Erik Selvig, a scientist who lived in isolation and had found her by coincidence at first, and then, by following her cries.

Her real family didn’t find her until her fifth birthday – and by that time, the princess didn’t answer to any other name that wasn’t Jane. Her parents, too euphoric for finding her well-cared and alive, decided to forget everything about Sigyn – the name they had given her after her birth – and started calling her Jane.

The kings of Vanaheim disentangled their daughter from the arms of the only man she had known as a father, and it was the knowledge that he was doing the right thing what forced Erik to ignore her painful cries, kiss her forehead, and say his farewells.

Vanahaim was in celebration: Her lost princess had returned.

But it was obvious pretty soon that this girl lacked something that the royal baby had had in spares: _Her magic._ The powerful potion had turned her into a mortal, and although the Iddun Apples – a thoughtful gift from the King of Asgard – had given her back her immortality, she was still as incompetent in magic as any Midgarian.

The cruel rumors soon started to flow around the Vanirs, who would rather think their kings had stolen a Midgarian girl and dressed her as a Vanir than to believe that the unskilled girl who had returned to them was their real princess. With the years, her caring nature and her intelligence won them over and the rumors, although they didn’t disappear, stopped mattering to the Vanirs.

Their princess was back, there wasn’t any doubt about that.

When Jane turned nine, in the fringes of her fast-marching childhood, her father told her that they were going to spend the summer months in Asgard, as guests of the All Father’s family. In that moment, she couldn’t really know how this small trip would mark her life in such a definitive way. And although some people would think that a first crush, a first kiss and a first disappointment weren’t something _definitive_ , for her, it was the beginning of a consuming obsession.

That summer, she met eleven years old Thor Odinson and ten years old Loki Odinson. Of course, she had heard about them before – How one was funny and extrovert, and the other reserved and witty. The stories that she had heard about the young princes seemed to summarize quite well Thor’s qualities, but they were quite lacking to convey Loki’s complicated character.

She remembered her first impression of them quite well: As every girl, she felt her cheeks blush when Thor greeted her with his long and white smile; and she felt strangely intimidated by Loki’s piercing stare. He didn’t seem as agreeable as his brother.

“Is it true that you’re a Midgarian?” He asked, his words laced with venom. She immediately knew she was being insulted.

“No. I am a Vanir.” She responded. She had said the same to her mirror so many times, when she felt inadequate.

“Vanirs have magic. Everyone knows that.” Loki answered in the same impolite tone. “Do you have magic?”

“Loki!” Thor exclaimed at his side, embarrassed by his brother’s lack of tact.

“I am just asking.” He said in a defensive tone.

Jane crossed her arms, and tried to adopt a self-confident pose, “No. I don’t.”

“I see.” He said, with a victorious smile. “So you can’t do this.” He casted a small ball of green fire in his hand.

Jane opened her eyes wide. From what she knew, some Asgardians had magic, but it wasn’t common and the royal family – with the exception of Frigga, who was Vanir – had always dedicated their time and efforts to battling strategies. She immediately felt robbed. It was unfair that a prince of Asgard, a realm that priced battle over magic, could be a better magician than her. It was a painful reminder of her own incompetence. And not for the first time in several years, she wondered if she was really the princess of Vanaheim or if she was simply the daughter of a Midgardian man who had decided to give her up.

She shook her head, her parents would’ve never abducted a child, not when the same had happened to them. Right?

Loki smiled, content with Jane’s surprised expression. He immediately extinguished the flame, “I know why you’re here.”

“Your father invited me.” She said, as if she needed to defend herself.

“I know. But have you wondered why?”

Thor shook his head, “Let her be, Loki. I am sure those are silly rumors. We’re too young, we have yet so many years to enjoy! That only happens to Midgardian royalty.”

“No. Mother insinuated it. You know I always get her to tell me the truth.”

Thor looked at her brother with an expression of total horror and then, frowning, she looked at Jane. Both princes were staring at her – no, studying her – as if she were some kind of merchandise that was on sale.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, not liking that they seemed to know something she didn't.

“Our parents want us to marry.” Loki explained.

“You and I?”

“No, silly. You will have to choose one of us.” Loki said, “Isn’t that completely unfair? If you had a prettier sister, things could be different. Fairer, at least”.

Jane frowned. Did he just call her ugly? “Well, I don’t have a sister.” She bit her lip, trying to contain herself but… she wanted to offend him, as he had offended her. “And anyway, that’s an easy choice, I will marry him then.” She said, pointing at Thor. The thunder boy laughed, and looked at his brother as if saying: ‘See, brother? I win!’

She could immediately see the pain in Loki’s eyes, and she was surprised by how expressive his eyes were. She had expected indifference, or even happiness for saving himself from a marriage of convenience with her, but it seemed like she had really hurt him. She should be happy, it was what she had wanted, but now…

She opened her mouth, to tell him it was a joke, but he was faster. “Good.” Loki said. “I would never marry someone as weak as you, anyway.”

Jane dig her fingers in the skirt of her dress, trying to rein her anger. “Good for me, too.” She said back.

“Then we should go tell our parents. They will probably make you sign something.” Loki said, “Let’s go. They will be happy to know that we’ve behaved like adults and we have already come to an agreement.”

Jane frowned, she really didn’t want to sign any marriage contract at the moment, but she didn’t want to show Loki that she was unsure – She didn’t want him to think she was too young to make grown up decisions! So she followed him with long strides, trying to catch up to him.

“Wait!” Thor exclaimed. “Don’t I have a say in this?”

Jane and Loki didn’t listen to him, their pride was on the line, so Thor started run after them and with his speed, he caught up to them quite fast. They didn’t say a word until they arrived in front of the closed doors of the throne room, that were guarded by two Einherjars.

“We have an important announcement for the king.” Loki said to the guards, straitening up his back.

The guards looked at each other with amused smiles, which frustrated Loki even more. “Unfortunately, your father is in a meeting right now. With her parents.” One of the Einherjars said, pointing at Jane.

Jane sighed, relieved. “Well. I supposed it can wait.” She turned around, looking at the princes with a raised brow. “Maybe we can play a game?” She was afraid they would accuse her of being childish, but she really didn’t know what else to do with their time.

+++

Jane couldn’t really understand how it had happened, but after four consecutive summers in the Odinson brothers’ company, she realized – with a good dose of mortification – that she enjoyed arguing with Loki _too much,_ that he knew almost as much as she did about constellations, and that his green eyes were especially beautiful when they shined with mischief.

She should like Thor. Every girl in the realm liked Thor better – Not counting that _very_ annoying girl called Lorelai that followed Loki everywhere – so it would’ve been quite normal if Jane had liked Thor better too. And she tried to pretend that was the case during the first weeks, but she realized she was only lying to herself when Lorelai confessed that she had started studying magic to get closer to Loki and Jane had felt an unexpected hatred towards Lorelai and Jane's own lack of magic. Of course, it hadn’t been the first time she had felt insecure because of this Midgardian attribute of hers, but it was the first time that the cause had been a boy.

At thirteen, Princess Jane realized she had a crush on Loki Odinson. It wasn't a welcome epiphany, and for a moment, she wondered if she would rather be cursed than in love with him. (Love, of course, was too strong a word, but girls of her age tend to exagerate.) 

One fateful evening, Jane watched with a sour face how Lorelai tried to cheer Loki up casting moving figures of water in the air. Jane would’ve thought that after losing against Thor in a duel, Loki wouldn’t be in the mood for such childish magic tricks, but he seemed to pay quite a lot of attention to the water figures and even helped Lorelai to create more complicated scenes with his own magic.

Why was he treating Lorelai so nicely? When he was always so rude to her! Did Loki have a crush on Lorelai? She couldn’t understand why a clever boy like Loki would like a girl like Lorelai, who only cared about her appearance, but she couldn’t deny that the young sorceress was very pretty.

Jane turned around, angry with herself for her own jealousy, and started walking away, wishing to be as far away as possible from that idyllic image. She couldn’t get very far because Thor run after her. She did as if she hadn’t heard him, but the Thunder God was too fast, and he caught up to her in a heartbeat.

“Jane! Where are you going so fast? Is everything okay?” He asked when he saw her sad eyes.

Jane bit her lip before gathering the courage to ask, “Do you think I’m pretty, Thor?”

He frowned, confused, not expecting that question. Jane immediately felt self-conscious. “Sorry. You don’t have to answer. I know there’s a lot of things more important than beauty, and I would rather be intelligent than pretty.”

“You’re both intelligent and pretty.” He answered, finally recovering from the surprise of the unexpected question.

Jane smiled, grateful for his words, although they didn’t mend her insecurities as she had hoped, “You’re a good boy, Thor.” She said, pecking him on the cheek. He showed a dopey smile and as she walked away, he looked at her retreating figure. This time, he allowed her the solitude she was seeking.

During the next days, Jane avoided Loki as best as she could, but the last day of summer, when she went to the observatory to look at Asgard’s stars for the last time before returning home, she found that Loki was already there. She tried to turn around, unseen, but Loki had a keen ear.

“Running away from me again, Princess?” He asked, without looking at her.

She took a deep breath and turned to look at him. Under the stars’ light, he looked almost ethereal. She tried to calm her beating heart to fake composure.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re avoiding me. It isn’t something very intelligent to do. If you plan to marry my brother, you’re gonna have to see a lot of me.”

“Marry your brother? What are you talking about?”

“I suppose you never signed a marriage contract, but that doesn’t mean the oral agreement is less valid.”

“Are you talking about that silly competence we had when we were nine?”

“I was ten.”

“Irrelevant.”

“I saw you kiss Thor.” He said, and it sounded like an accusation.

“Yes. I kissed him on his cheek. Is that considered a marriage proposal in Asgard?”

Loki frowned, “Are you saying you don’t like my brother?”

Jane took a deep breathe.

“I don’t like him.”

“Why? Every girl likes him.”

“Lorelai doesn’t like him.”

“No. I suppose she doesn’t.” He said with a proud smile that bothered Jane.

“Do you like her?”

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb. You know who.”

“Lorelai? She’s cute.”

Jane sighed, giving up. She turned around, ready to go but Loki stopped her, grabbing her arm. Before she could understand what was happening, he was pressing his lips against hers. She didn’t answer immediately – too shocked to move any muscle, but before he could step back, she put her hands in his raven hair and pressed her lips harder against his. It was the first kiss, she had never done it before, so she was scared to do it badly. To do it worse than Lorelai.

Then, they both jumped, as if suddenly understanding what they were doing.

Jane felt her cheeks flush. “Why did you do that?”

Loki shrugged, “So Thor wouldn’t do it first.”

“What?” She asked, hoping she hadn’t understood well.

“I think he likes you, so I wanted to kiss you first.”

“So it was for another silly competition with your brother?” Jane asked, feeling very angry.

Loki looked away, “Of course. What other reason could there be?”

Jane crossed her arms, “Well, it doesn’t count as a first kiss.”

“Why not? It was a kiss.”

“You didn’t use your tongue. It isn’t a real kiss.” Jane said, standing up, her whole body shaking with rage. She went down the stairs, two steps at once.

“Where are you going?” He asked from the top of the stairs.

“To give Thor a real kiss!” Jane exclaimed, not bothering to stop or look up.

Of course, she didn’t have any other plans to kiss any other boy. (She was even considering not washing her mouth that night, possibly a silly thought, but Jane was only thirteen years old, and if she was being ridiculous, her young age should be enough to forgive her for this crime). She knew Loki would soon learn that she hadn’t really kissed Thor - he only needed to ask his brother - but that didn’t stop her from feeling vindicated when she muttered those words.

It was a short-lived triumph, and that night, recalling her first kiss, she decided that she was never going to have a crush on a boy again. One could say she didn’t really break the promise she did to herself, but that was because – somehow- she never recovered from her first crush.

Too many years passed before she saw him again, and then, she blushed _angrily_ again. Just like the first time.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So that's it! Short, I know. It could have a continuation about them as adults and Jane taking "revenge", but it would have a way higger rating warning :) - But, really, I can't promise anything, I have so many other things to write and real life is going to get pretty busy soon. It already is.
> 
> But, that's on my mind, so who knows... Maybe I won't be able to resist.


End file.
